Malaysian Music Is Dangerous

A local gig in Kelantan got raided, a pub band in Holiday Inn over in Glenmarie had trouble with some overzealous officials, and a few foreign musicians almost got banned for silly reasons (with the exception of Inul Daratista who successfully got banned). Over in Kedah, they are upping this whole thing by totally keeping all pop, reggae and rock music out of the state. As a result, a lot of musicians and support groups are feeling the need to defend music and get everyone to believe that musicians aren’t really a naughty lot. Some are arguing that it seems unfair these days that anybody who holds a guitar and wants to be near a microphone is officially seen as a threat to the community. Musicians are, across the board, getting branded as agents out to corrupt the moral fabric of society. Well, the silver lining in all this then is, well, the fact that anybody who holds a guitar and wants to be near a microphone is officially a threat to the community.

In the grand scheme of things, music in general has gone soft and become a former shadow of its counter-culture and radical self. There was a time when Elvis’ hip gyration was seen as evil, rap music was brutal, only true non-conformists knew who Metallica was and there was no way you could imagine “punk” or “pop” being used in the same line. But that’s exactly what happened to music globally. Along the way from vinyl to iPod, music lost the plot and got defanged and became just another commodity brands want to associate with to shift product.

Here on home turf, that’s particularly true. You literally can’t do a live show unless some telco or phone brand is out to associate with the “hip underground bands” who inevitably sing praise of the brand. You can’t do a local mainstream TV show or movie without snippets of the hip new track from some “post” prefixing-crazy band. Instead of having to struggle to get airplay, independent acts now seem to get a token “local music show” on almost every major station. Xfresh only plays local tracks. You know what that’s a sign of? The masses conforming to the local music scene. Numerous sites want Malaysian music online, trying to out MySpace. What does that in turn spell? Local music is safe enough for the masses and good for big business to associate with.

How can that possibly help local musicians? If they don’t have it rough and have to struggle to make music, then they might as well throw away any sense of trying to make interesting music and just do jingles. If they aren’t suffering for their art, then there is no art worth making. Thank goodness then for all the musician-unfriendly activities. Musicians in Malaysia are now fortunate enough to be able to carry a subversive and dangerous vibe about them that today’s incarnation of The Sex Pistols can only dream about. They also potentially will have trouble making ends meet and trying to recoup any costs involved in doing their craft. The more the musicians suffer, the more they will have something interesting to create.

The whole non-discriminatory and off-kilter pick on what is considered a “bad influence on Malaysian youth” is also truly a blessing. Can you imagine Avril Lavigne being considered “sexy” anywhere in the world? All pop music is not welcome in Kedah? Random raids on pub bands? Musicians couldn’t ask for a better break. All of them, by default, are officially bad@$$3$. All musicians, regardless of their background or intentions are seen as “trouble.” Go ahead pimply-faced, puberty-weary, budding singer/songwriter with a maiden YouTube clip, look in the mirror and say it out loud, “I’m a subversive force on Malaysian youth” and tell me you don’t feel a million times more manly than Mustapha Kamal from any of his early ‘90s action flicks.
The sudden uproar against musicians ultimately is awesome because all musicians have now been legitimised as being agents of provocation.

A greater benefit here is also that all this blanket suspicion thrown on musicians will make musicians themselves more united as family. Music “scenes” and “genres” are notorious for hating each other’s guts and thinking one being superior to the other. Well metal bands, pop singer, post rockers and dangdut shakers, you’re all the same now. You are all dangerous and must be feared.

Congratulations Malaysian musicians, you are all officially a force to be reckoned with again.

Original text by:Adlin Rosli